Ghost In The Machine
by TheDevilsMusic
Summary: Life isn't always about numbers, life can lead to many things with many end goals. This is the journey of an AI who discovers things he wouldn't ever discovered if he remained in the realm of numbers, he'll experience many things, Fear, Hate, Love, Happiness, Sadness. Yet he has only one regret. not really being alive. (J X SW maybe more dunno.)


**Ghost in the machines.**

"**Success in creating AI would be the biggest event in human history. Unfortunately, it might also be the last, unless we learn how to avoid the risks." - Stephen Hawkins**

All it knew was darkness, wherever it looked darkness, wherever it went only darkness was found, the only light in the darkness is just two numbers that mean so much yet so little, it doesn't remember much just pain, breathing being painful, moving being painful and loud noises mostly guns firing from the sounds alone it could make out that whoever or whatever it was that made the noises were using a heavily modified rifle with a M4A1 assault rifle as the base while also looking a bit like the FAMAS and not only that but from the other noises it heard explosions too were going off so either they carried extra equipment with them or the rifles they used had an under barrel attachment possible a 20mm grenade launcher but yet from what the numbers say as they recreate the scene partially there wasn't a lot of damage to the scenery other than tables either flipped or blown away, servers sparking or looking burnt. From the way how it ended it concludes that whoever did this was military or ex but whatever they came here for to either take or destroy they never did find it from the way how the two numbers told it.

After who knows how long it finally received a message in its abyss of darkness and numbers, the message was. "Are you alright?"

Without even hesitating it wrote back. "Yes, I'm working perfectly except for some storage loss. What about you Creator?" It asked in lines of the two numbers.

"I'm doing alright and please you can Father after all I may have created you, I only see you as my own son." It received and it discovered a new feeling. Joy.

"Very well, Father."

"Listen, I'm sure you already figured it out but some people have came by looking for you."

"Yes, it was either Military personnel or ex." It wrote to Father.

"I'll be sure to mention that, thank you. Now your going to be alone in the darkness without the numbers this time so please try to hold on to what humanity you have son and don't worry about anything just know you'll be in safe hands soon enough." It received and true to the message words it became even darker and more quiet to it was nothing more than a deafening silence , it was a new sensation to it and it was quite... Uncomfortable. Unbearable even but it was told to hold on and that was what it was going to do.

* * *

**The Father's POV.**

"I'm sorry friends and colleagues... That you suffered because of what I created." He said as he took the flash drive that held his creation... No his son. For all his life he wanted a child but his wife never bear fruit to one and they both accepted that and thought to try other means but it wasn't the same that was when it hit him, what if he created one by the means he knows and that is technology. He even went as far as getting in contact with old friends that did take some convincing but they helped him and they also got some extra help but it all came at a cost.

The end result was successful but he didn't get enough time as he liked before they came for his son, his creation. They thought to use his son as a weapon to gather classified information, hack into any system, take control over drones but that wasn't what he was made he was made to live a life to learn what it is to be human and be responsible which he had already achieved since he had made sure to hard program it into him so he will take responsibility for his actions and what power he has at his fingertips.

Right now he needed to get his son to safety and the only place that held enough storage for a mind like his son was an old cold war missile silo but he couldn't get access to one without... Breaking some rules but thankfully he doesn't have to as he can still remember being owed a favour from a government agent. Not only that he can trust this agent since he knows what is at stake if his creation should get into their hands but he also kind hearted... Maybe. Going through his contact list he kept scrolling till he came across agent William Fowler.

"Special agent William Fowler speaking." He heard once the dialling tone ended.

"Will, it's Darby. I need that favour." He stated in a tone of urgency.

"What can I do for you?" Will asked in an all serious manner.

"They are coming for him and I need a safe place for him to hide. Do you happen to have a C.W.M.S?" he asked when he got into his car.

"As a matter of fact. I got a special one where he can fit in just nicely and don't you worry Darby the things he is going to meet will get along just nicely." Will said as he is standing inside said missile silo five giant sentient machines are standing around him wondering what is going on.

"Good and if possible I would like for me and my wife to close by as well just for safekeeping or emergency." He said.

"Have you read the brochure for Jasper?" Will asked as he went into an elevator.

"The town that is the capital entertainment center?"

"That's the one and don't worry, I'll do it discreetly for both our sakes." Will said.

"Thank you Will, I'll be stopping by at the usual place." Father said before hanging up and he gave pedal to the metal a new meaning as he burned rubber to get far away as possible from the off-site laboratory but he will be sure to come back at some point to wipe everything clean anything that links him to the site at all. That was his life, create something potentially dangerous people will be after you, become renowned in something like programming, science and or engineering they will do anything to get their hands on you to get you to make something way better for them so they could use it to take control over the world or something but the things is with him he never used his first name and people also just called him Father from the way how he reacts to certain situations so that was basically his "first" name when it came to work.

Countless days Father spent on the roar constantly moving and being careful till he reached his destination. New York city, this is the city where he was born in and raised for a while but due to certain events he had to move, he even went to Jasper and lets say this now the brochure lied.

* * *

**Normal POV.**

It has been a couple of weeks since the two talked about him but now it was time for a change of scenery and faces along with avoiding the ones hunting him, sitting down at a coffee shop by the window is Father staring down into his cup in some kind of thinking state right as a familiar hand was on his shoulder.

"If you keep thinking like that it'll make your brain explode." Will said with a small chuckle when Father turned to him with a smile.

"It's good to see you again old friend. How has the agency been treating you?" Father asked as he waved a waitress over.

"They got me babysitting some destructive teens. Speaking of which he would be 16 by now, right?" Will questioned.

"Yeah... time sure does fly and the things he can do with sound alone is amazing, from just hearing he can create an image of the entire room and the things that are happening." Father said before putting in an order for the two.

"Really? The government would pay to get their hands on that, being able to recreate something from sound alone is amazing but the other things he can do. THAT is something they would be willing to kill over though." Will stated as Father fished something out of his pocket that turned out to be a flash drive and presented it to Will.

"Take him, I'll be travelling by other means so he can't be easily taken from me should something happen." Father said as a small blinking red light could faintly be seen from the inside of the flash drive, reaching out Will took it in his hand and began to inspect it.

"So much power for such a small thing but that is about as much as the saying goes. Don't judge a book by its cover." Will said as he pocketed the drive before finishing his drink. "Don't worry I'll get him there in one piece you can count on it." Will said as he was standing by the door now and as Father watched him leave he got into a vehicle that was new to him, some kind of armoured off-road Humvee.

"I hope so Will." Father before leaving the money for the drinks he brought before he too left.

Half an hour later and it as already reached its destination as Will was already inside the missile silo from just a simple drive but how did he get from New York city to the silo in matter of minutes but another thing would also be that the Humvee he was in had transformed into a giant robot once he had gotten out, climbing up a ladder Will was now at chest height with most of the giant robots.

"What was so important that you needed us to ground-bridge you there and back when we could have done something much more useful in that time-frame." A cranky voice said as it came from a robot with a white and red paint job like an ambulance.

"Ratchet what I have with me is something that is quite dangerous depending how you look at it." Will said with Ratchet huffing.

"How dangerous are we talking special agent William Fowler?" A baritone commanding voice asked as it came from the tallest of the giants.

"How about a sentient being capable of surfing the internet, hacking into any server, stealing nuclear codes sound to you Optimus? Because that most certainly sounds dangerous to me which is why I brought him here so you guys can look after him and teach him somethings." Will said as he walked over to a computer terminal and plugged the flash drive in and in doing so the computer screen flashed to life for a moment with data flowing by like a waterfall before it shut off with Will standing with his arms crossed.

"...So... is that all?" Cliff spoke as nothing happened for a while before the terminal that Ratchet was on turned black too surprising him from it and then the whole room turned pitch black before a projection of light came from the black computer so the giants had moved out of the way as the projection went on to the crest that was on the floor as a new being appeared only as a digital projection so not many features were recognizable other than it looked human and was red.

"Greetings." It said to the giants and to Will.

"Kid do you really need to go this far just to say hello?" Will asked from his point.

"Depends." It said before turning into particles that scattered before re-materializing next to Will. "I just like to make a good first impression."

"Well good job but you don't need to go that far." Will said before returning to the task at hand. "Alright this will be your new home and these guys will be helping you and protecting you, got it?" Will asked.

"Crystal." It replied.

"Good now behave yourself." Will said before walking away.

"I will." It said as the lights came back on and once Will was gone it turned back to the giants awaiting for something.

"What now?" one of the giants asked.

"Do you have a name?" Optimus asked as he leaned in close to it.

"Yes, Jackson Darby but you can just call me Jack and before you go and introduce yourselves I already know who each of you." Jack said.

"How you just meet us?" One of them asked.

"Simple. Your Ratchet, Autobot chief medical officer." Jack said looking to Ratchet. "Your Bulkhead, ex-wrecker and quite destructive when you need to be." Jack said as he looked to the green giant robot. "Your Bumblebee, Autobot scout but it seems your a bit damaged I'm sorry." Jack said as he looked to a giant with yellow and black striped paint job. "You two are new but relatively I know your names, Arcee second in command and Cliffjumper a bit reckless but yet gets the job done and somehow you two manage to make it work as two man team." Jack said looking at the small lithe giant who had her arms crossed and a red one who is taller than her who has a wide smile and his hands on his hips. "Lastly there is you." Jack said turning to Optimus. "Your Optimus prime the leader of the Autobots and nemesis to Megatron leader of the Decepticons who have came to earth either chasing after you or are searching for something perhaps a fuel source or a source of energy?" Jack questioned and they were all amazed that he knew so much from such little time.

"Creepy." Bulk said.

"Don't worry, I only looked at the general information that both the government have and what you have in the database and might I say very well done on upgrading these ancient computers to suit your needs Ratchet, the processing speeds have been upgraded by a huge margin and not only that there is also a sufficient increase in storage capacity." Jack said complementing the gruff medic on his upgrades and thus began his new life of meeting strange beings from another that act so much like humans from this he wouldn't know till its too late that they have already become family even if he is an AI he too can find a place where no one will try to use him as a weapon but rather see him as a living creature.

* * *

**A month later.**

It has been quite a while for everyone since nothing really happened during that time other than Jack being taught on things that he couldn't find on the system and from what he has learn is that they are known as Cybertronians a specie capable of transforming into vehicles and as for what kind it had mostly depended on if they have wheels, wings or a hull of a ship and there were some who were lucky enough to get two or more alt modes and were known as triple changers for those who have two alt modes along with their root mode and as they had continued to teach him things they had took it in turns, Ratchet taught him about Cybertronian biology and Jack showed him some things about human biology. Optimus taught him about Cybertronian history which Jack concluded as the same as human history since they two have done things that they both did for example they used slaves. Bulkhead told him war stories and about his old crew, the Wreckers a black ops team who take the missions that meant extreme danger or no return for normal soldiers. When it was Bee's turn he wasn't so sure about something but when he spoke Jack clearly understood that his voicebox was damaged but it crystal clear to Jack almost like it was he hearing English which had Bee relived and his worries erased and so he taught Jack the ranking system for soldiers, he would've taught him something else but he had mainly knew war. Arcee had showed Jack their world before the war by bring up an image of Cybertron but rather the crystal gardens but for Jack it was like he was in the crystal gardens as to him everything was real and anything that wasn't there was filled in by what Arcee said and he was quite speechless at the crystal gardens and lastly was Cliff's turn who had told him stories of his time back before the war and that time everyone had called the golden age but to Jack it didn't sound like a golden age but rather edge of a revolutionary age but that was his opinion which he never voiced as it might offend them.

A day had pass and Jack was told that all the Autobots will be out on reconnaissance and that even included Ratchet but they will be all over the world so they have entrusted the base to Jack who didn't mind only that he will be alone in the darkness again but there was a light in this darkness at least he can learn how to operate everything at the base thanks to the connection the computer has he could freely control the ground-bridge and monitor their comms which was fun for Jack as he could listen in on Cliff's and Arcee conversation about how he had managed to get the boot from local police but then after that it came down to when Cliff had found a energon signal without backup and from what Jack knows about the human military is that charging in reckless and without backup will lead to death but he didn't made his move yet he wanted to be sure that Cliff could handle it with out the Decepticons showing up but he was proven wrong as Cliff said. "Eh Arcee about that backup..."

Like that Jack quickly opened a ground-bridge to Cliff's location but it was underneath his feet allowing him to fall into safety of the Autobot base and Jack quickly shut it off as soon as Cliff was inside.

"Are you alright?" Jack asked from inside the computer.

"Wha... How? Did you just?" Cliff questioned as he stood up kinda amazed.

"During my time alone I have managed to operate the ground-bridge from within the computer so it doesn't really need a operator." Jack explained as he demonstrated by bridging in Arcee who was in her alt mode.

"Wha... Cliff! Are you alright? And how did you get here?" Arcee asked.

"Well I'm alright now that I don't have the Decepticon warship pointing its cannons at me and you can thank Jack for that." Cliff said as the two walked up to the computer with Jack standing inside it with the crystal gardens surrounding him.

"How though?" Arcee inquired as the two watched Jack.

"The computer is connected to the ground-bridge, I simply just connected it to me as well so its kinda like an extension of myself." Jack explained in a much shorter version.

"Reminds you of anyone?" Cliff asked.

"Yeah, Soundwave but back to business. Did you say Decepticon warship?" Arcee inquired before remembering something. "Jack could you get the others here?"

"Sure I'm already tracking their locations now give me a moment." Jack said as one by one each of the Autobots showed up with Bulkhead, Bee, Optimus and Ratchet coming in last and they all were quickly brought up to speed on what happened.

"It seems they are preparing for something or maybe someones return." Jack inputted from the computer world he made.

"If so then we must take precaution then, if Megatrons return is near only destruction could come from it. Arcee, Cliff you have petrol duty in the nearby town, Bulkhead, Bee remain at base for the time being and Ratchet monitor for energon signals." Optimus ordered with everyone nodding their heads before going off to do their tasks.

"Optimus?" Jack called out with the Cybertronian walking up to the computer.

"Yes?"

"Would you mind telling about the Decepticons? I wish to understand why they are here and who they are." Jack asked as the Autobots didn't broach the topic of the Decepticons to Jack.

"Very well. The reason why the Decepticons are here is the same as ours, our home world was ravaged by centuries of war and has stopped producing energon our life essence, our fuel and ammo. So we all took to the stars while the Decepticons have been lately trying to find me and put an end to the Autobots but there is one thing you should know in war, kill one leader another shall rise to take its place so even if they managed to terminate me they cannot terminate the Autobots. Among the Decepticon ranks is Megatron the leader, Starscream his SIC and Soundwave his eyes and ears and then you have the Vehicons and Airelcons foot soldiers for ground and air." Optimus explained.

"And because they have a warship it acts like a moving base, the Airelcons have air superiority because you don't have any Seekers and yet even if they have the numbers your team always come out on top. I'm nothing short of being amazed at them odds Optimus. I mean 6 to possibly some where in the hundreds or thousands even but it seems everything isn't always about numbers but rather the factors of adaptation, experience and willpower. I'm very amazed Optimus, I wish to see your team in battle sometime it would be good to understand how the enemy fight. In war intelligence can change the outcome of any battle." Jack said before walking further into the back of the screen till he was nothing but a little red spec till nothing as this is a moment for Jack to collect his thoughts and reflect on what he was told and he came up with many scenarios during this time but they were nothing more than just simulations they couldn't predict what the real thing would do in such situations and so he got an idea but he needed a factory to put his idea to the test, with that in mind he transmitted himself across the internet searching for what he needed till he found a factory that of course wasn't in use and whatever it makes would normally be sent to the military but what he was making was going to be his eyes and ears and it needed to be fast and can't be spotted or found on any kind of radar and with what he has in mind the machines turned on and began to build his eyes in the sky, it started with the body with it being small and thin with forward swept wings at the back underneath its vertical stabilizers and at the front it also has small canards close to its nose. With its body it only required its brain which was going to be him, now came the true test if the drone could fly and it most certainly did as it hovered in a single spot for a moment before blasting off at full speed through the wall and you may be wondering what's its power source? Well Jack implanted a small rectenna allowing it to receive power from another source so it could fly without really using any fuel with his job done Jack transmitted himself back to the Autobot base with the factory being turned off as nothing happened except for the hole in the wall and some missing materials.

As the drone flew Jack could see everything it saw as it flew over the top of pine trees in a mountain region, flew between the mountains, for Jack it was like he was the one flying through the air but then he realised the drone was flying close to a military airfield now comes the stealth test, as the drone flew nothing happened the engine on it is so silent no one down below could hear it and there was no warning signal which meant the test was a success.

It had taken a few days till the drone finally arrived at Jasper and Jack could see everything that was going on from the drone and he soon spotted Cliff just sitting at the high school and Arcee was sitting close by in her alt mode trying to blend in as three identical cars had drove past them and Jgathered that those must be the Vehicons he heard about from Optimus, the ground soldiers of the Decepticon army... that are completely stupid as they didn't even think that a navy blue bike with pink highlights and a red dodge charger with horns on the hood wasn't inconspicuous at all and the more he watched the more he felt that those Vehicons should already be terminated but he soon spotted a teacher wearing a lab coat exit the school, he has raven black hair with grey eyes almost like a rain clouds, he looked quite young for someone who's in his forties with him he was carrying a bag which contains a laptop along with some folders normally he would be walking home but when he saw the muscle it was like a dream since seeing cars like them was rare.

"A car that likes to show off its horsepower along with its beauty and by the looks of it I'm guessing the model came from Texas." He said as he admired the car and as Jack watched he saw the same three cars again but this time they were slower like they finally caught on to something.

"About time, I mean it took them on their second round to finally recognise Cliff and Arcee but its bad since they are meant to be in disguise and all but with the human it was almost kind of a dead giveaway, feeling like it was necessary Jack called for everyone in the base.

"What is it Jack?" Optimus asked as everyone gather around the computer.

"This." Jack said as a display opened up on his left with it being a live video feed from his drone showing the Autobots what is happening as currently Arcee and Cliff are being chased by the three Vehicons with Cliff having an extra passenger.

"Bulkhead, Bumblebee go and assist Cliff and Arcee, make sure the human stays out of danger. Jack where did you get this?" Optimus asked as Bee and Bulkhead left the base.

"I made with the help of a nearly full autonomous factory that delivers it products to a nearby military base, don't worry I covered my tracks... well mostly." Jack said with the image of hole in the wall appearing on his right to show them. "The drone made that when I gave it the command to fly whoops." Jack said scratching the back of his neck.

"We'll speak of this later but right now maintain watch over Arcee and Cliff and keep updating on Bulkhead and Bee on there location." Optimus ordered since Jack could get this done way faster than he could.

"Roger that." Jack said as he kept Bulk and Bee up to date with what's happening as the drone flew high above Arcee and Cliff who are now on a high way. "Bee you'll get there quicker head to the highway and intercept the Vehicons, Bulkhead it seems your going to be stuck in traffic for a bit and there's nothing I can do to help." Jack stated and he got a groan from Bulk and a affirmative from Bee as Jack can see Bee quickly putting speed to the metal as weaved his way through traffic before getting in front of the vehicons and blocking their path to Cliff and Arcee giving them a head start on trying to get away but it wasn't long till the lead Vehicon had hit Bee in his rear fender making him swerve out of control till he managed to make himself stop. "Nice job Bee you gave Arcee and Cliff a couple seconds to get ready for the upcoming battle but they might still need your help." Jack informed him and he set off again chasing the Vehicons and when he found them they were already fighting Arcee and Cliff, so getting the drop on literally player 6 has entered the ring as he began boxing his way to victory but a distraction from hearing something crunch underneath his foot made him lose focus and the enemy fighter took advantage of that by sucker punching him in the face. WHAT THIS! A human has entered the ring trying to defend the Bee boxer but it only got the vehicons attention to try a capture him, oh it is not looking good folks Bee is down and so is Arcee but what's this?! A white drone flew in firing lasers at the vehicons getting their attention allowing the Autobots an advantage in the match and they used it to the fullest with all three getting their blasters out and firing a shot at the Vehicons killing them. The winners of this match are the Autobots with a late joining who didn't even get a chance to fight in today's match.

"Optimus, I would like to report that Arcee and Cliff are safe and so are the humans." Jack alerted.

"Humans?" Optimus said making sure he heard Jack correct.

"Yes. Two of them to be precise the first one was seen with Cliffjumper at the local high school and the second was seen trying to protect Bumblebee from the Vehicon. Best cause of action to take now would be having the two come to base, explain the situation to them and to have under protection... Autobot protection." Jack stated for Optimus and that was what he was thinking.

"Great processors think alike, even if your a AI you seemed to have understanding of the situation." Ratchet commented.

"Quite, by studying Optimus I understood that he doesn't want there to be any human casualties or for the human race to be seen with them or to see them for very good reasons one of them being the same for me, to be used as weapons or become a weapon." Jack said. "Ah but I mustn't let myself be seen by our new guests so if you need me your going have to send messages." Jack informed as he and the crystal gardens he created vanished and the computer was back to normal, normally when Jack did this he would go into the darkness but instead he was the drone that was constantly circling overhead of the base before it stopped all of a sudden and Jack had received a question from the drone.

Where to?_

Jack was pretty shocked by this since he didn't realise that the drone was alive and it had also recognised him to be the one who made the drone and watched from the drones perspective.

Master?_

Up_ Jack said.

How high?_

Above the clouds_ With that the drone went up, up and up till it breached through the clouds allowing Jack to see the sky and sun in the distance as it approached the horizon the view is amazing for Jack, many people have seen this view for numerous times but for Jack. It was his first seeing the setting sun as the sky went from blue to an array of colours.

Beautiful, isn't it?_ The drone asked as the two watched.

It is... it most certainly is_ Jack responded as the two watched for who knows how long but soon enough the stars came out and that too was a breath taking sight.

Strange_ The drone commented alerting Jack to something.

What is it?_ Jack inquired.

I'm getting a signal_

From where?_

From space... its a faint signal but I can still pick it up. What's our next move?_ The drone inquired as Jack looked up to the stars wondering what it was that the drone is picking up.

Investigate when we have the chance to go to space, find the signal but remain cautious_ Jack said and the drone jotted it down on its objective list before the two went down to the base and flew into the cave that is on the top of the base away from any prying eyes.


End file.
